


He Works At The Hot Topical

by VampAmber



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Awesome Jo Harvelle, Awkward Castiel (Supernatural), Awkward Crush, Awkward Flirting, Awkwardness, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Blushing, Castiel Has a Crush on Dean Winchester, Castiel and Dean Winchester Being Idiots, Complete, Crushes, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Dorks in Love, Flirting, Fluff, Gay Castiel (Supernatural), Hot Topic, Idiots in Love, Jo Harvelle & Dean Winchester Friendship, Jo Harvelle Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, M/M, Nervous Castiel (Supernatural), Oblivious Castiel (Supernatural), One Shot, Pining, Pointless, Pop Culture, Shopping Malls, Teenage Castiel/Teenage Dean Winchester, The Author Regrets Everything, Too Much Blushing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 10:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30087987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampAmber/pseuds/VampAmber
Summary: His name was Dean, and as much as Castiel didn't want to admit it, he'd been minor level stalking the guy for almost a year now. It didn't technically count as stalking, though, since all he did was shop at that particular Hot Topic at least a few times a month, but it kinda felt that way since he was going to see the hottie cashier and not the latest Funko Pops.Castiel's teenage crush on the guy that works at Hot Topic isn't quite to stalker level yet, but seriously, with how hot Dean was, and awesome too, he'd better watch out before the crush went full on nuclear meltdown. It's a good think Jo's patience finally snapped, then.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 4
Kudos: 92





	He Works At The Hot Topical

**Author's Note:**

> Fair Warning: It's been a few years since I've been to a mall, so if I got anything wrong, please just pretend this takes place in 2017?
> 
> For those who remember, this is another fic from my Jar O' Plot Bunnies. Kinda glad I put "Hot Topic" on one of the slips of paper, now. ^_^
> 
> Working on a billion or so WIPs, so maybe you guys'll get more soon, or maybe not. Dunno. My depression and my muse always have to get together and discuss whether or not I'm allowed to write, so I hafta sneak behind their backs whenever possible to actually get any writing done. I'm upping my ninja skills, but there's only so much I can do, yanno? But I try my hardest, I promise. Usually. Basically. Mostly...
> 
> Yeah, I'm lazy. Sorry.

_Okay, just breathe._

The fact that he actually had to bother reminding himself of this basic bodily function only served to make Castiel feel even more nervous. Yeah, the guy was hot. Hell, just calling him hot was a huge understatement. He looked like he should be modeling for Hot Topic, not working in their chain store in a tiny Kansas mall in the middle of BFE. And the fact that he was so nice only seemed to make things worse for Castiel's big, throbbing puppy love crush.

His name was Dean, and as much as Castiel didn't want to admit it, he'd been minor level stalking the guy for almost a year now. It didn't technically count as stalking, though, since all he did was shop at that particular Hot Topic at least a few times a month, but it kinda felt that way since he was going to see the hottie cashier and not the latest Funko Pops. Though at least his wardrobe had turned out a lot more interesting in the last year, and it was actually all stuff he liked. Dean was responsible for that, too.

Steeling himself as if he were about to do something far more difficult than just walking into a store, Castiel took a final sip of his smoothie before dropping the empty cup in the trash can and heading there. The Bath and Body Works he passed made itself known with an almost overbearing cloud of mingled scents and sprays. He paused for a moment, wondering if maybe a spritz or two from a tester cologne might make him seem a little bit more attractive, then pulled himself away when he realized he was only stalling. He already had on the cologne he'd bought from Dean last month, anyway, so it'd been a bad idea from the start.

Castiel winced when he finally stood in front of the storefront. The place was basically dead. At least if it'd been busy, he could've blended in with the crowd and fawned from afar. Now, pretty much all attention would be on him. Crap. He was about to run and hide in the Game Stop where his friend Charlie worked until later when the mall was busier, when Dean noticed him from behind the counter. Double plus crap.

"Heya, Cas," Dean said enthusiastically as he walked over. "Going for those frequent shopper points lately, huh?" He asked with a chuckle.

Castiel let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, definitely," he choked out. "Gotta get me those discounts." The fact that he wasn't already halfway to an asthma attack proved that his anxiety didn't hate him too much. Yet.

Not noticing the state of the teenager in front of him, Dean continued just as enthusiastically, "So, how'd you end up liking that record you bought last week? Isn't Zep the greatest on vinyl?"

Castiel started nodding, while remembering the month it took him to get his hands on a record player, just so that he could listen to all the albums that Dean had suggested and that he'd, of course, bought. "Yeah, definitely great." Dean's smile, which was obviously real since nobody's customer service faces were that authentic looking, made a little shiver go down Castiel's spine.

If he had any guts at all, he'd’ve just asked the guy out ages ago. Dean didn't seem to have a homophobic bone in his body, so even if he was super straight he wouldn't have been grossed out by Castiel asking. He'd even been on the cash register the day Castiel had bought those gay pride rainbow pins a few months back. And he'd given him that wink he just loved to give Castiel, like they had an inside joke just because they were constantly bumping into each other here.

"Well, we just got in some new band tees, if you're thinking about your next one," Dean said, talking like they were friends instead of employee and customer. After this much time, maybe they were, at least a little. Even if they only ever saw each other under these same circumstances. "And just lemme know if you need anything." He paused to smile again, and Castiel had to hold in the happy little groan of pleasure at how much he loved those stupid teeth between those sexy lips. "And even though we're super busy, I'm sure I can squeeze away for a little bit if it's to help you out," he finished, giving that wink and taking at least three years off of Castiel's lifespan. Then he chuckled, and went back over to the blonde girl folding t-shirts, his coworker, and from what Castiel could figure, his best friend. Jo, said coworker/best friend, glanced over at Castiel before ducking down to whisper at Dean. Castiel sometimes wondered if they were dating as well, but those thoughts never ended well, so he forced himself to head over to the shirts instead.

Even without working there, he spotted the eight new shirts almost immediately. One of them, the AC/DC one, Dean had been wearing underneath his flannel shirt today, and Castiel couldn't help but wonder if buying one for himself would make him cross the line from cute stalking to total creeper. Yeah, maybe not then. At least today. But it was only because he actually liked the shirt as well, even if it wasn't on Dean. Ugh…

Castiel turned around, off to look at the section with all the anime merch, which just so happened to be over by the register where his not-stalking would probably pay off better, when his messenger bag (another splurge purchase thanks to Dean) got caught on the clearance rack, bringing down plushies and accessories along with Castiel himself. He grimaced when he hit his knee on the way to the floor, trying to not cry out and look like a total wimp in front of his super extra mega crush, and didn't hear Dean's reaction to the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened in Castiel's seventeen years of existence.

"Shit, you okay?" Dean said, his hand already on Castiel's shoulder. "That looked kinda painful."

Castiel enjoyed the feeling of Dean's hand on him for a moment before replying. "Eh, I've had worse," came out of his mouth automatically, but it was apparently the right response when Dean started to laugh.

"Yeah, I think you might even be able to walk again someday," Dean teased.

Castiel couldn't help but laugh right along with him. This was the closest he'd ever been to Dean, and he wanted it to last as long as possible. Or at least until he did something more embarrassing. Whichever came first.

"Here," Dean said as he offered his hand, after they finished laughing, "lemme help you up."

"And Jo can start cleaning up the mess," Jo announced loudly, not that either of them were paying attention.

"Allie oop," Dean actually said as he helped Castiel back into a standing position. But apparently that wasn't going to happen just yet, because Castiel’s foot caught on god only knew what, and suddenly he found himself in Dean's arms.

Castiel immediately blushed as red as humanly possible, and was surprised when Dean did the same. "Uhh…" Castiel said, not sure what was appropriate at times such as these, when you weren't starring in a romantic comedy.

"Sorry 'bout that," Dean apologized, turning his face away even though he had nothing to apologize for.

"No, it's… um… sorry…" Castiel finally managed, removing himself from Dean's accidental embrace and regretting every inch. He felt something tugging at his shirt as he moved, though, and reached down to untangle Dean's employee badge from his bag's strap. It had a couple of pins attached to it, but one in particular caught his attention: blue, purple, and pink. Without even thinking, Castiel blurted out, "Oh, you're bi."

Dean smiled a little, even though he was still blushing like a fire hydrant. "Yeah, have been for a while now." His tone seemed to imply something, but Castiel's brain was too stupid from being so close to Dean to process it it right now.

"And I'm gay," Castiel said instead of anything even remotely intelligent.

"Yeah, I know," Dean replied, and for some reason blushing harder as he said it.

"Oh my god!" This shout from Jo they did pay attention to, and they both looked over at her, halfway through cleaning up Castiel's mess. "Just freaking kiss or something already!" She dropped the Naruto plushie she'd been holding and stomped over to the register area. "You have both been stupid in love with each other for forever, so just ask him out." She huffed, still quite loud. "Dean, you're now on your lunch break, so get the hell out of here and take your boyfriend with you." She printed out the piece of paper that made it official, then she started making shooing motions at them.

The entire tirade, the two had been staring at Jo with surprise, which quickly turned to even more embarrassment as she went on. They looked at each other with wide eyes, then broke apart as if it had all been synchronized. "But Jo," Dean started to say, as Castiel awkwardly tried to fix his messenger bag's strap.

"Go!" She yelled, loud enough that they probably heard her in the Rue 21 next door. She smiled as the two all but scrambled out of the store in fear. It was gonna be a bitch to clean up this mess alone, but at least those two dumbasses would finally stop tiptoeing around each other already.

"I am so sorry about all that, Dean" Castiel said as they both started walking towards the food court on Jo's orders. "I'm a total klutz and should've been watching where I was going, and…"

"Hey, Cas, it's cool, just breathe," Dean interrupted him.

"But…"

"Dude, it's okay," Dean said as he stopped walking and turned to face him. "Breathe."

"I…" Castiel had no idea what to say, and had barely even started to register what all had just happened. But then the most important part hit him like a two-by-four to the face. "Wait, she said you like me too?"

Dean ducked his head away, but Castiel could already see that his earlier blush was right back where it had been, and even deeper than before. "Uh, yeah," Dean mumbled, but it was loud enough for him to hear.

"Really?" Castiel asked, wondering if he'd hit his head when he fell and this was all a concussion dream. Because no way did Dean…

"Yeah Cas, I like you," Dean rushed out, finally looking back up, the last three words said as they were eye to eye.

And now it was Castiel's turn to blush again. "Then why'd you never say anything?" He asked softly.

Dean went back to looking away, this time off into the distance, rubbing at his neck in a nervous gesture that Castiel had only seen a few times before. "Because if you ask out a customer on the clock, or even seriously flirt with them, you get canned faster than you can blink, and I really need this job." He turned back to Castiel finally. "And I never managed to catch you after I'd clocked out. I was kinda hoping you'd catch on by me winking at you all the time…"

"But I'm oblivious and stupid sometimes," Castiel finished for him, even though those weren't the words Dean would've chose. "Really stupid," Castiel repeated, looking at Dean again, marveling at just how green his eyes were. He'd never been close enough to notice before.

Dean chuckled, making his eyes, and the rest of his face, look even better. "Sounds like we were both pretty stupid."

Castiel smiled, and before he could chicken out, he pointed out, "You're not on the clock now, Dean."

"Oh, yeah," Dean said, obviously having not even thought of that until now. He grinned like a fool, then took Castiel's hand in his. "Cas, would you wanna go out with me?"

"Of course, Dean," Castiel almost stuttered. His bravery, having not yet jumped ship, pushed him to ask, "Wanna start with lunch?"

Dean laughed. "You do move fast," he teased, which made Castiel roll his eyes at him. "Maybe a movie later? Dinner tomorrow? And something this weekend?"

"That's a lot of dates," Castiel said, not sure if Dean was teasing or not. He really hoped that Dean wasn't.

"Well," Dean said with a smirk, "we have a lot of time to make up for."

Castiel smiled so hard it made his face hurt, and as its grand finale, his bravery let him lean in and give Dean a kiss. And when Dean kissed back, the finale was completed with tons of fireworks going off in his brain. There were probably enough explosions to make his IQ go down a point or two, but… eh, he could spare them.

**Author's Note:**

> ALL the Hot Topic pop culture references!
> 
> Okay, I'll be quiet now...


End file.
